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Aladdin
Aladdin was a cartoon on the Disney Afternoon block based on the 1992 film of the same name. It starred Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, and Abu in their adventures in Agrabah and beyond. It began with the direct-to-video film Return of Jafar. Characters *Aladdin- a former street rat, Aladdin is the daring hero of the series. He is married to Princess Jasmine. His name is Arabic for "glory of religion". *Jasmine- the rebellious princess of Agrabah. Her name is Arabic, from the Persian word for "gift from God", and is also the name of a flower. *Sultan- the jolly, sometimes clueless ruler of Agrabah. *Genie- Aladdin's wacky friend who has phenomenal cosmic powers, but an "itty bitty living space" (i.e. a lamp). He can get Aladdin out of trouble whenever he needs to. Otherwise, he uses his powers to comfort himself and others. He had spent ten millennia in the Cave of Wonders prior to meeting Aladdin. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta (the late Robin Williams in the original movie), who also voices Homer Simpson in the popular adult-oriented cartoon The Simpsons. Despite his cuffs having disappeared in the film, he still has them in the series (he also had them in the films). He also chooses to live in the lamp despite implying his hatred of it in the film. *Abu- Aladdin's often troublesome monkey friend. He wears a fez, which is a cap more commonly associated with the North African country of Morocco (from which the hat gets its name, as the country has a city named Fez). Strangely, the name Abu is Persian for "father". *Jafar- an evil genie who was the antagonist of the film. He was originally Vizier to the Sultan, and wished he could become the world's most powerful sorcerer, and then genie, only to also end up in a black lamp. Genie then flung him into the Cave of Wonders for ten millennia, but he escaped only a few years later. His name is common in Arab countries, and means "stream". *Iago- originally the annoying assistant of Jafar, Iago acts as the comic relief of the show. He is voiced by Gilbert Gottfried, also known for being the voice of the Aflac Duck. His name is not Arabic, but rather the Spanish equivalent of James (or, more etymologically, Jacob). The name, however, is also that of the villain in the Shakespearean play Othello. *Carpet- Aladdin's magic carpet who helped him escape the Cave of Wonders. Video Game * A game based on the film was released to the Super Nintendo, Genesis, Game Gear. The SNES version is noted for its unfairly difficult Cave of Wonders Escape level. Many people view the Genesis version as superior. Controversy * The theme song for the show was Arabian Night from the film. During the theme song, the line "are hotter than hot in a lot of good ways" was accompanied by a shot of Jasmine during the words "in a lot of good ways". Trivia *Agrabah is not an actual Arabian city. *Dan Castellaneta actually replaced Williams for the sequels Return of Jafar and King of Thieves, which came before the series. *Popular internet reviewer Nostalgia Critic dedicated an episode to the Disney Afternoon. His comments about Aladdin the Series include panning Castellaneta's poor attempt to re-create Robin Williams' role. He later reviewed the sequels, commenting on how Return of Jafar was just a pilot for the series. *Keith David provided the voice of Minos for three episodes. He is better known as the voice of Goliath in Gargoyles and Captain Anderson in the Mass Effect series of action RPGs. *In one episode, Genie meets a genie named Eden, who happens to be female and lives in a bottle. Her name is a reference to Barbara Eden, who played Jeannie on sixties sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. *The late, great Tony Jay had a minor role in the series. Category: Disney Afternoon Category: cartoons Category:Film Adaptations